Simulation · November 24, 2020

Football Manager 2021 (2020)

trophy98 achievementsextension1 DLCgroup1M–10M ownerstrending_up1.1k peak concurrentrecommend14.4k recommendations
The manager is the beating heart of every football club. In Football Manager 2021 , dynamic, true-to-life management experiences and next-level detail renews that focus on you, the manager, equipping you with all the tools you need to achieve elite status. With more than 50 nations and 2,500 clubs at every level of the football pyramid to choose from, the possibilities are endless. It’s over to you, boss. Choose your colours and the challenge that best suits your ambitions and then work with your club’s hierarchy to ensure you meet theirs… or face the consequences. Join forces with your backroom staff to assess the strength and depth of your playing squad before dipping into the transfer market. There’s likely to be a starlet in your Academy knocking on the door of the first team… Craft tactical strategies, formations and styles of play for every occasion to maximise your club’s chances of winning football matches and getting those three points. Immerse yourself in the spectacle of match day and revel in the glory of management as your planning pays off on the pitch. Interaction Communicating with your players and the media has never been more purposeful or realistic. Gestures enable you to express every emotion, while Quick Chats improve those short, informal conversations which are part of day-to-day life as a manager. In FM21, others will feel the impact of your words and know the sort of manager you are. Matchday Every fixture now feels like a true spectacle with our best-looking match engine ever. You’ll receive better analysis and advice in the pre-match build-up and those data improvements combine with our remodelled match UI to bring you closer to the action than ever before. FM21 also boasts a raft of AI improvements across every area of the pitch. The rate of decision-making has increased and there’s more nuance to the decisions that players make, allowing them to be more reactive and make faster decisions. This improved decision-making process has enabled better defensive and goalkeeper intelligence, enhanced central play and more variety in the final third. Additionally, you’ll also get more reaction and data post-match, including our brand new SIxG system, which will let you know well or badly your team performed relative to the chances they created. Analysis and Stats Our extensive data improvements go beyond Matchdays, giving you all the tools to level up your pre-match preparations. Managers benefit from a vastly increased amount of data reporting and visualisation this year, including monthly reports from the new Performance Analyst that mirrors the data real managers receive. New graphs and data maps provide clearer insight into their team’s strengths and opposition weaknesses, while there’s a wealth of new stats that will give you full statistical overview of the entire pitch. Recruitment New staff roles, meetings and interactions freshen up one of the game’s most popular areas. Recruitment meetings now ensure that you and your scouting team are on the same page, both for your next moves and the club’s longer-term strategy in the transfer market. Moreover, you’ll now be able to approach agents directly about a player's interest in joining your club. End of Season Re-live your campaigns and revel in your success like never before. A new season review presentation picks out your best moments on and off the pitch, while showpiece victories feel much sweeter with improved title presentations and masses of media attention. This is a game that rewards planning and knowledge but there’s no pre-defined ending or script to follow, simply endless opportunities. Every club has a story to tell and it’s up to you to write it.

Position in Simulation

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume23.9k Steam reviewsTop 21% in Simulation
Positive rating93% positiveGenre average: 79% — this title sits in top 14%
Metacritic85/100Genre average 75 — top 18% of Simulation titles
Concurrent peak1.1k playersTop 18% in Simulation by live player count
Engagement hours378 h averageTop 3% for session depth among Simulation

Peer Simulation titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Simulation releases from 2020

14 Simulation titles launched in 2020 — top 6 by review volume.

Reception Metrics

Steam community

93%Very Positive · 23.9k reviews

22.2k positive · 1.7k negative

Metacritic

85/100 critic aggregate

Metacritic user score

6.3/10

Curator recommendations

14.4k

Peak concurrent players

1.1k

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (12)

  • English
  • Italian
  • Spanish - Spain
  • French
  • German
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Greek
  • Korean
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese - Portugal

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Sports · 132
  • Simulation · 116
  • Management · 111
  • Football (Soccer) · 74
  • Singleplayer · 70
  • Multiplayer · 69
  • Football (American) · 66
  • Strategy · 44
  • Co-op · 8
  • Free to Play · 5

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

378h

extensive (100+ hours)

Median

185h

Typical completion time

Achievements

98

Steam unlocks available

More from Sports Interactive

Sports Interactive has 6 titles indexed — all listed below.

Release & Availability

Release dateNov 24, 2020
DeveloperSports Interactive
PublisherSEGA
Base priceFree-to-play
DLC / Add-ons1 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Support

Features & Capabilities

Multiplayer

  • Multi-player

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Cloud

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing